Nexus Event - Lore Dump (Part 1)

“So, wait.” Hermione stopped the previous discussion, holding up her hands and shaking her head. “New Camelot, the kingdom which your parents rule, never signed the Statute of Secrecy?”

“Never,” Sara replied in my stead, wearing a smug grin. “Along with a lot of other kingdoms, city-states, and national governments of more modern political entities.”

The nerdy girl's eyebrows furrowed deeply. “So then how is the statute binding? How does it have force behind it?! It doesn't make sense if not everyone signed it and there's no way to force people to do what it says! Dad and I talk all the time about how UN's resolutions don't actually do much since there's no enforcement mechanism.”

I chuckled, shaking my head a bit. “That is... a very long and complicated story and has to do with how the statute was originally conceived of, put together, and the terms laid out.”

Hermione blinked, turning to me instead of simply ranting at the middle distance. “Wait, you actually know? I was afraid I was going to have to dig through the library and end up not finding anything! With what you've told me about wizarding historiography...”

I hummed, leaning back and rubbing my chin as I gathered my thoughts. “Are you sure you want to know? I mean, I wasn't joking when I said it was a long story.”

Hermione nodded energetically, her frizzy brown hair flying with the motion. “Please! I've always been deeply curious about the schism between the magical and mundane worlds. Especially now that relations are opening back up between the two, I'd really like to know more about how and why it happened.”

Sara groaned, rubbing at her eyes with the butts of her palms. “Oh God.”

I gave her a slightly sour look while Hermione just appeared confused. “I am not that bad, thank you very much.”

Sara sighed and dropped her hands to stare at me. “You are, Sol. I love you to bits, but you really are that bad.”

Hermione frowned. “I'm sorry, I don't understand. What's wrong?”

Sara looked at Hermione, opened her mouth, then stopped as she visibly thought better of what she was about to say and stood up. “You know what? On second thought, it's not important. You two have fun and if things run past five hours I'll flip a coin between a rescue team and a kill squad. I'm going to go hang with Angela and Harri.”

With that, Sara followed through on her word and fled the scene.

I snorted, rolling my eyes as my fellow nerd seemed more bemused than ever. “Sara and I have differing opinions on the value of historical knowledge. Which means that it bugs her when I have the perfect opportunity to rant about history since she can't play her favorite game.”

Hermione blinked, frowning lightly. “What's her favorite game?”

“Being the smartest person in the room,” I grinned, the bookworm's expression turning thoughtful. “She's gotten better, but she could be a total brat when we were younger.”

I suppose it says something, good or bad, that even Sarah Livesy can't go through an apocalypse without maturing at least a little bit.

“I... don't really understand, but I think this is something of a digression,” Hermione stated, waving the topic off. “Not that your family isn't fascinating. It truly is, but I really do want to know more about the magical world's geopolitical situation.”

I cleared my throat and snapped my fingers, the Hogwarts elves making a quick tray of finger foods appear along with goblets of sweet cider. Pumpkin juice might be a favorite for my age group, but more than a glass or two of the stuff made the sweetness cloying and irritating.

“I've found a little food for thought often works wonders when discussing heavy subjects,” I stated by way of explanation.

“Oh, thank you! I was just starting to feel a bit peckish,” Hermione smiled, blushing slightly as she reached for a few pieces of cold meat and cheese to make herself a small sandwich using the crackers available.

“You're quite welcome.” Taking up my goblet, I took a pull and let the moisture coat my mouth before swallowing slowly as I prepared myself for a long talk. “Alright. There are a number of places we could begin this topic, but I think the best starting point to give proper context would be the Roman Empire. Specifically, the Western Roman Empire. Not the Eastern. Not yet, at least.”

Hermione quickly took a sip of her own drink, washing down the bite of food she'd taken. “May I ask why? I know you said it was a long story, but...”

I held up a hand with a tolerant smile. “Please hold all questions until we take a break. You'll understand much of why I've chosen to start here once we begin.”

Hermione pouted slightly, then jerked upright and immediately dove into her pack as she withdrew a small lap desk, a ballpoint pen, and several pieces of college-ruled paper before studiously heading the first one. That done, she looked up at me, expectant and ready.

I smiled a bit more earnestly. It was gratifying every time I got to speak like this. I liked teaching. That was why I'd gone into the field in the first place, a lifetime ago. What I didn't like was... everything else that came with the job. The tedious documentation, the constant behavioral issues, state mandates for your curriculum, the constant looming shadow of yearly performance tests curtailing creativity in how you could approach subjects...

I pushed the feeling away and focused on the here and now.

“So, Ancient Rome. Our story begins with the legalization of Christianity as one of the many religions within the empire and on the eve of the adoption of Christianity as the primary faith of the Roman emperors. This was within the fourth century AD, but spans almost the entire length of that time. The process was gradual, beginning with the Edict of Serdica in 311 and the Edict of Milan two years later and ending with the Edict of Thessalonica in 380. Serdica was also called the 'Edict of Toleration' and Milan effectively broadened that by granting freedom of religion (or a close approximation thereof) to other religions beyond Roman State Paganism. Thessalonica, on the other hand, made Nicene Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire and acted to exclude other religions from being tolerated, if in more of a de facto sense than a de jure one.”

I took a sip of my drink and allowed Hermione to catch up with her note-taking. It wasn't that long of a break, though, given that the girl was quite fast.

“We're talking about the timing of Roman conversion to Christianity because to get to the root of why magical societies live separate from non-magical ones, we need to talk about what magical society was like in Rome before the investment of Christianity as the state religion and the change it brought about in society at large. This is particularly important because the vast majority of European wizards and witches trace the formative influence of their modern traditions back to the period we're discussing right now.”

Another brief pause as I shuffled myself in my chair slightly.

“Roman magical society before Christianity arrived was centered around religion, just as the mundane society of Rome was. Religion was fundamental to both in a way that modern civilizations can't really conceive of. Being 'devout' for a Roman wasn't an option. It was a daily requirement to fulfill one's role both as a member of one's family and as an individual within the greater functioning whole of Rome itself. To try to drive home how important religion was in daily Roman life, I'd urge you to do research on the mos maiorum, the-”

“Loosely translated as the 'Ancestral Custom,'” Hermione interjected, smiling proudly. “A complex and evolving set of societal norms including but not limited to 'Fides' or the fidelity of one's spoken word as regards promises and oral contracts, 'Pietas' or piety towards gods, homeland, parents, family and the relationships thereof, and 'Religio & Cultus' which represented the bond between gods and mortals that required active observance and obedience towards rituals.”

I smiled broadly, nodding along. “Very good, Hermione. You know your Roman history.”

The young girl preened slightly at the praise.

“It should tell you something that the first two which you listed, Fides and Pietas, are values which are embodied by goddesses in addition to being integral to Roman society. Or, rather, they were so important on a cultural level that these abstract concepts and traditions were elevated to the status of divinity simply as a result of that fact.”

“Even if Gibbon's series on the decline and fall of the Roman Empire is dated, it's a must-read for any serious scholar,” Hermione replied energetically. “I disagree with the majority of his conclusions regarding civic virtue being a central cause of Rome's decline and eventual fall, but it's absolutely vital to understand where someone is coming from on a subject if you're going to argue with their points.”

“I'll have to let you take a look at the first edition set of his books we have sometime,” I promised, making Hermione's eyes widen as she practically vibrated in her seat. “But, more to the point, it shouldn't surprise you that Roman magical society was deeply enmeshed in religion as well. In particular, the various cults of the gods played a pivotal role in educating and organizing different subsets of skilled magic-users.”

The busy-haired bookworm shot up, her spine snapping straight as she opened her mouth. “Of course! That why-! I mean, when the Roman Empire adopted Christianity, Christians began the state-sponsored persecution of the polytheistic Roman traditions! If Roman magical society was tied to the pagan temples and cults, then their destruction and the ostracization of their membership would obviously lead to seclusion of magical societies away from the mundane world! It's so obvious!”

“Most people don't know about the... well, Romanization of Christianity. In the Book of Matthew, Jesus gives the Sermon on the Mount in which he famously instructs to 'turn the other cheek' to anyone who would strike you, so that they might strike that one as well.” I leveled my blue eyes at her own brown ones. “Does this sound like the Roman version of Christianity we see in the latter years of the empire?”

“No, it doesn't,” Hermione replied, shaking her head as she jotted down notes quickly. “So, this is when the wizarding world began to pull away from the normal one?”

I nodded. “Began to, yes. It's important to remember that we're talking about a very lengthy process that lasted over a thousand years and progressed at different speeds in different areas. Roman magical societies were still very much Roman in spirit even if they kept their faith and organization around their temples hidden. They still interacted with society at large in many of the same ways, simply continuing to practice the teachings of their gods and goddesses and pass on instruction in the magical arts as they had been taught themselves.”

“Knowing that, I think I can see the long arc of how things came to be as they are,” Hermione muttered as she hummed in thought.

“I don't want this to come across as an anti-religious spiel or anything,” I sighed and leaned back. “The issue is more complicated than that. In fact, if you look at the wizarding nobility in Europe, you'll find that the majority of them converted to some kind of Christianity in the name of being able to appear in the courts of non-magical nobility and were relatively well-received. Echoing that, it might seem strange to most of magical society today, but the Malfoys were one of the most significant opponents against the passing of the Statute of Secrecy in the late seventeenth century.”

Hermione tilted her head up from where she was bent over writing and blinked at me in surprise. “Th-that makes sense, but at the same time...”

“It's a very strange thought,” I nodded. “My point being that different segments of magical and mundane societies exhibited different degrees of interaction between themselves over the millennium it took for the two to properly separate to the degree we see in the modern day.”

“Can you give some examples? I mean... I'm curious how things worked in so many regions...” Hermione trailed off hopefully.

I nodded, then grinned slightly. “I think the best example of how magicals and non-magicals were able to remain interconnected yet separate would, paradoxically, be the Catholic Church itself.”

“But, w-wait! I thought you said that the early Roman Catholics persecuted pagan wizards and witches serving the Roman gods and goddesses?” Hermione asked, frowning.

“I did, but that doesn't mean there were any defectors. A number of individuals effectively 'switched sides' and brought what was, at the time, advanced magical knowledge and training to the side of the Christian Church. Meanwhile, the church had its own... growing pains, let's call them. In particular, the Gnostic movement had a number of internally-trained wizards of various calibers. It was from this pool of magic-practicing Christians that the Romans drew more and more upon in their later years. Many of their enemies, after all, were perfectly willing to use tribal shamans and pagan priests to cast spells to aid foreign armies.”

“That makes a great deal of sense,” Hermione nodded, returning to her note-taking. “Although... what about the exile and excommunication of heretics during the Council of Nicea? I wouldn't think they would allow people who publicly disagreed with the orthodoxy to remain in the church.”

“The emperors needed magic-users to send on campaigns. As long as they could cast spells and would take oaths to the state, even the strict demands of Nicene Creed and Canon Law could be... bent to make practical allowances.” I paused pointedly. “If they kept things behind closed doors. Which is another starting point for a social schism between magicals and non-magicals. If you were to meet the subset of wizards and witches within the Catholic Church that are still actively practicing, you'd be struck by how un-Catholic a lot of their views and teachings are.”

“But... if Emperor Constantine already had an army, or at least a large group, of wizards and witches... or priests and priestesses at his beck and call... why would he bother switching over to the Christians?” Hermione probed, frowning as she looked at me, then her eyes widened. “Not that I'm saying anything you've told me isn't true or anything, but... um...”

“Especially if you're looking at this from a political or pragmatic standpoint rather than a religious and supernatural one, it doesn't make sense,” I nodded, allowing Hermione to calm down as she mimicked my head-bobbing. “Which is where... well, we get into the deep lore of magic, spell-casting, and who qualifies as a 'wizard' or a 'witch.'”

I paused, the inquisitive eleven-year-old leaning forward with clear curiosity in her eyes.

“It's also where I'm probably going to outrage everyone from normal people, to purebloods, to religious extremists from all branches of society,” I sighed.

Hermione's eyes widened further. “I can't imagine-”

I held up a hand and took a moment to put my words together as I considered how best to say what I wanted to, taking a sip of my drink as I did so. “Returning to the subject of magically-trained individuals within the early church... you're familiar with the evangelical movement of Christianity in the United States? The kinds of pastors or religious officials who fashion themselves as religiously-empowered faith healers?”

Hermione nodded slowly. “I don't have any... well, personal experience, I suppose? But I've seen them on the telly a few times, usually on documentaries and the like. Are they... actually magical? I'd think the American magical government would... no?”

I had already begun shaking my head. “No... well, not no, but... it's complicated. I mention these modern figures to draw comparisons to ancient Christianity and its own propensity towards, well... call them 'magicians' instead of wizards. People who claim to do magic, and may even do so in good faith, no pun intended, but who don't have what we would recognize as magical powers.”

Hermione nodded, taking notes again, then paused as she looked up at me from her papers. “You said, 'what we would recognize as magical powers.' Does that mean there are things that are magic powers, but that most people don't think of as them?”

I smiled proudly. “Has anyone ever told you, you're very clever, Ms. Granger?”

The young woman colored and swept hair over one ear. “A time or two. So?”

“First, a digression atop this digression,” I chuckled at her slightly-annoyed look. “During a conversation with your parents some time ago, I believe I might have mentioned the Xing-Gauber Threshold?”

Hermione cocked her head, her eyes locking on the middle-distance as she hesitated, before nodding. “I think... something in relation to squibs?”

I nodded. “Yes. The Xing-Gauber Threshold is the point at which a squib has enough magic to feasibly wield a wand. It's a bit more complex, but on a scale of one to ten, a squib would be anyone with a score of between two and three. Even if they would be a relatively weak wizard, someone above a score of three would be capable of using a wand to cast most everyday spells.”

“Between two and three...” Hermione murmured with a frown, her eyes narrowing before abruptly widening. “You mean muggles do have magic, then!”

I nodded slightly, still smiling enigmatically. “Magic is a metaphysical power generated by the soul. We know souls exist. Even if ghosts are impressions of the soul left behind rather than the actual souls themselves, there are creatures and magics which can affect the soul that are known to us. If one wishes for rather morbid proof, dementors would not be able to feed on 'non-magical' people if they didn't have a soul. Even if mundanes can't see them, they can very much feel the effects of dementors in turn. Squibs... it varies. A squib with magic enough to be close to the threshold of wizardry can see them, while a witch with less magic would only be able to recognize their presence and possibly observe a distortion in the air.”

As her pen skittered across the page, the girl opposite me nodded. “Fascinating. Horrible, but fascinating. Then is it possible for mu-mundanes to actually perform magic? At any level?”

“If one were to gather a large number of mundane people together and have them focus both their will and belief on a given subject with near-flawless harmonization,” I stated leadingly. “Of course, even 'casting' a spell in such a fashion, as a group, one would still need some manner of instrument or symbol through which to channel it, some form of chant or song with which to unify their hearts and minds, and someone to lead the entire affair.”

Hermione blinked rapidly as her pen slowed, looking up at me with an expression of epiphany. “You're... describing a church congregation.”

“To come full circle,” I continued as if she hadn't spoken. “I return your attention back to the Roman world of late antiquity and their deep integration of religion into their way of life. Put aside modernity for a moment and consider the kind of rock-hard belief those people would have had in regards to faith. Consider their devotion to the rituals of the time. A millennium and more before Nietzsche pronounced God as dead, centuries before the scientific method and the Enlightenment's Age of Reason... think about what those people could have done when united under a single banner of a single god instead of divided into dozens of smaller congregations under polytheism.”

Hermione took a deep breath, caught up in the image I was painting as she stared off with a faraway look in her eyes.

“I won't contend that Constantine didn't have political, cultural, or even financial reasons for transitioning Rome to Christianity.” I paused pointedly. “But, there's something to be said for practicality even in the face of the supernatural. While Christians did have classically-trained wand-waving magic-users, the clergy was predominantly composed of what we would today call 'muggles' or 'mundanes.' They, in turn, were capable of mobilizing the faith of the masses to accomplish the kinds of magic needed to purify land, protect armies from curses, and similar.”

“Which would take the power out of the hands of a small cabal of powerful religious leaders who could more directly challenge the Emperor's power using magic,” Hermione breathed, realization settling in.

“It's always a chancy proposition disagreeing with a person who can throw a ball of fire at you with a few short words and a wave of a stick. Much safer dealing with someone who'll stick to conventional threats.” I snorted, then shrugged grandly. “It is, of course, just a theory. Constantine could entirely have had a change of faith through divine revelation and been making a good faith effort to lead his empire into salvation.”

“Playing Devil's Advocate,” Hermione grimaced and rolled her eyes. “Pun not intended, but even allowing for how much your explanation makes sense, both could entirely be true at the same time. For however much it matters.”

I nodded. “An erudite observation, Ms. Granger.”

Hermione giggled, her cheeks pinkening at the sound of her own sudden giddiness. “Thank you, Mr. Pendragon. I must say, this is one of the more scholarly lectures I have attended in my day.”

We both shared a bit of laughter over that.

After a quiet moment where we contented ourselves with drinks and snacks, Hermione hummed and asked, “So, if that's where the rift between magical and mundane societies began... how did it progress to what we see today?”

I sighed. “That... becomes somewhat more complicated. The Christianization of the Roman Empire had a great deal to do with 'setting the tone' for the schism between societies as far-flung as those in Iberia and Egypt. Even the Eastern Romans phased out traditional polytheistic religions in short order and while some groups of magic-users simply converted, there was a pervasive misconception that the conversion was at best superficial and those who did so would still hold pagan affiliations in secret.”

Thankfully, Hermione didn't ask questions this time, but allowed me to further gather my thoughts. “This was largely the state of affairs going into the seventh century, at least in the western world. Then, Muhammad and the faith of Islam came roaring out of Arabia with a singular message: 'Convert or Die.'”

Hermione grimaced, but nodded. “I can see how the sudden emergence of a second religion which saw many of the magical traditions in the light of pagan customs could have made things... problematic for those who were still connected to the mundane world.”

“More that that, though, it was the friction between the Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, and Islam that all begat an increasing desire to conceal magical communities from any religiously-backed government. It might interest you to know that, for instance, worship of the Egyptian pantheon is still alive and well within Egyptian magical communities. Without saying that any given party was 'correct' in their assertion that magicals preferred a polytheistic religious structure, they certainly cleaved to it much more thoroughly than the monotheists would have liked. All of this created sincere motivation to begin developing charms and wards that would block people below a certain magical level of attainment from entering or even noticing certain areas.”

“So this is where we get anti-muggle charms from,” Hermione concluded.

“The first primitive ones, at least, yes.” I confirmed.

~~~

As promised, the second update of the night. Which is a real rarity, but these two just finished at about the same time.

So, anyway... this is the first in a two-part set that will give a historical overview regarding the world of Harry Potter as it will be envisioned for Nexus Event. I think I do an adequate job explaining everything within the conversational narrative here, but if there's a demand for it I'll come back and add a bunch of wiki-links for stuff.

Rock On, Stay Awesome, and Thanks For All the Support!

PS: Marvel Industrious Update Next. Look for it on the weekend.